Reconfiguring socialities: the personal networks of ICT users and social cohesion

Petrovčič, Andraž (author)

The debate on the social role of information and communication technologies (ICTs) has centered on whether their use will tend to isolate or connect individuals, thereby undermining or reinforcing social ties. This paper moves away from this focus on more or less connectivity to explore the structural characteristics of emerging forms of technologically mediated social connectivity and to examine how these new forms alter the integrative foundations of contemporary communities. The paper contends that in the circumstances of late modernity, characterized by the reflexive uses of communication technologies, network and mobile sociality have emerged that differently support the commitment of strong and the evanescence of weak ties,having ramifications for the types and cohesiveness of community forms that are increasingly structured as personal networks. In order to evaluate the cohesiveness of network and mobile sociality the analysis indentifies users of mobile phones, short text messages, landline telephone, PC email, online community and active participants in an online community and investigates the differences between users and non-users of these technologiesin terms of the structural characteristics of personal networks aswell as social participation and offline socializing as two central dimensions of social cohesion. The analysis is based on data from the 2005 IKT-GOS Survey, a national probability sample survey of individuals aged 10 and over in Slovenia. The findings indicate that the use of different ICTs alters the structural composition of personal networks and the communication processes within them in different ways. However, the use of ICTs generally augments the level of offline socializing and social participation. When taken together, the results suggest that network and mobile sociality are characterized by the growing importance of Ćfine-tuningĆ personal relationships in a way that combines various communication technologies, whichdoes not detract people from offline environments and, thereby, has a beneficial impact on social cohesion.

• Language: English
• Work type: Not categorized
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: FDV - Faculty of Social Sciences
• Year: 2008
• Number of pages: Str. 146-166
• Numbering: Vol. 6, no. 2
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-44932
• UDC: 303
• ISSN on article: 1726-670X
• COBISS.SI-ID: 28025949
• Publication date in RUL: 10.07.2015

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: TripleC
• Publisher: Institute of Design and Technology Assessment
• ISSN: 1726-670X
• COBISS.SI-ID: 28025693